AUSTIN, Minn. — The giant Austin-based food processor Hormel says rival Johnsonville stole secret sausage recipes. In lawsuit in federal court, Hormel insisted that its recipes be returned as well as internal corporate documents on marketing strategies. Two former Hormel employees, now on the Johnsonville payroll, are named in the suit. Hormel didn’t specify how much it seeks in damages. The stakes are high. The increasingly competitive U.S. sausage and wiener market is $8.5 billion a year. Johnsonville, based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, hasn’t yet offered its side. According to Hormel, a veteran 38-year employee, Brett Sims, left Hormel in 2023 to work for Johnsonville as chief supply chain officer. Sims, according to the suit, solicited another Hormel employee, Jeremy Rummel, a 25-year Hormel veteran, to join him at Johnsonville but first to send Hormel recipes and documents with marketing strategies and tactics — and recipes. As evidence of what happened, Hormel said it has emails sent from Rummel’s Hormel email address.
Can’t taste the difference? Don’t tell them.
